PlayStation 3 Super Slim

2012, September

Sony announced the "Super Slim" hardware revision (model CECH-4000) in September 2012, which launched in major markets later that year. Compared to the previous "Slim" model, the new chassis was approximately 20 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter, featured reduced power consumption, and replaced the slot-loading disc drive with a top-loading drive, changes that further lowered manufacturing costs. While the redesigned disc mechanism helped cut costs and save space, reviewers criticized it as feeling cheap and described it as "ultimately a step back". The Super Slim was offered with larger 250 GB and 500 GB hard drives, as well as a low-cost model featuring 16 GB of eMMC flash storage, with the option to install a hard drive later.